Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-02-11
The Hartford Horror,

The Hartford Horror.
The catastrophe at Hartford in this
State, takes rank with the most APPALLING
railroad accidents of the last half century
not equalling in fatality the Ashtabula
Ohio, horror, in 1876, in which seventy
five persons perlshed, or the Angola, n. Y.
disaster in 1867, by which forty-five per-
sons lost their lives but exceeding in
loss OF life any previous disaster of the
kind in New England. 1t belongs to the
class of railroad accidents which are per-
haps the most difficult to prevent, having
been caused by the breaking, of an axle.
In consequence of this four cars filled
with passengers left the track, just be
fore they struck the long deck bridge
over the White river broke loose from
the other cars before them, and plunged
from the bridge down fifty feet to the ice
bound river below. Most or all of the cars
fell bottom up and then quickly came
the fire, to finish the work of death aud
destruction. The flames, starting from the
tered cars, still enclosing their freight of
stunned and disabled human beings. A
few, as by miracle, retained their
powers sufficiently to make their way out
of the wreck. These, with the engineer
and brakemen. rescued a few living and
four dead bodies. The rest, probably
not less than forty in number, perish
ed and of more than half that number
the remains were burned beyond
all possibility of identification. The
wreck burned rapidly and the fire caught
and destroyed the bridge, and at daylight
nothing was to be seen but the iron work
of the cars, though a portion of one, con-
tanning number of bodies, lay below the
ice of the river.
We have said that il is difficult to pre-
vent accidents from the breaking of rails
or running gear. But it will hardly do to
say that any accident arising from de-
fective materials or faulty construction,
cannot be prevented. Sufficient thorough
ness of construction and care in keeping in
repair will reduce such accidents
to minimum. But in its most
horrible feature this accident was
readily preventable. 1t is not necessary
reservoir filled with glowing anthracite,
to be strewn, whenever a car is capsized
among the finder with which every rail
road car is filled. Improved methods of
heating, by steam and by hot water are
now in use on some roads; and some such
methods have got to be adopted on all the
ing by rail in the winter. 1t
would seem as if the succession of
horrible burning accidents of.this winter
must be enough to point this moral. The
cost of this disaster to the Central Yer
mont company, in damages for lost lives
and broken limbs, and in the destruction
of property, no doubt would pay for retit-
ting all the cars of the company with i'm
proved heating apparatus, three times
over. OF course no amount of money can
repay the cost of this calamity in destruc-
ton of life and health, and in broken
hearts and desolated homes II the man
ayers of the railroads generally, through
out the country do not realize that it will
not do longer to expose their passengers
to the risk of cremation in addition to the
other risks of railway travel-the people
should speak upon the subject, in a tone
which can not be mistaken.